Golf is a game played on the ground. We play the course as we find it and a considerable part of the challenge of the game is dealing with the difficulties of lie and stance created by irregularities in the surface of the ground. We all instinctively know that you can’t carry a mat or a step-stool to stand on. Almost nobody would suggest that you could put down a towel to stand on when the grass is damp during a drizzling rain. With one notable exception, none of you has ever seen a golfer in competitive play make a stroke using a towel to assist his stance.
Rule 13-3 says “A player is entitled to place his feet firmly when taking a stance, but he must not build a stance.”
In decision 13-3/2, the question is: ” A player’s ball was under a tree in such a position that he found it expedient to play his next stroke while on his knees. Because the ground was wet, the player placed a towel on the ground at the spot where his knees would be situated so that the knees of his trousers would not get wet. He then knelt on the towel and played his stroke. Was the player subject to penalty under Rule 13-3 for building a stance?” The answer, in the USGA’s notable economy of style is “Yes.”
You can tell that decision has been on the books for quite a while because you seldom see the word “trousers” used anymore. That decision was on the books when Craig Stadler employed a towel in precisely that fashion, for precisely that reason in 1987 at Torrey Pines. Why did Craig and his caddie believe that it was appropriate to put down a towel on this particular occasion and why does this video clip get replayed every time someone in the media disagrees with any ruling? No doubt you’ve guessed – I have a theory about that.
I believe that in the pressure of the moment and the novelty of the situation, Craig lapsed from thinking through his problem in terms of the requirements of Golf and began to analyze it in terms of what made sense as a practical matter. He wasn’t thinking about building a stance, he was thinking about his dry-cleaning bill or how he was going to look on camera. Those concerns don’t count for much with the Rules Committee. It is perfectly reasonable to think about protecting the knees of your “trousers” in most situations, but when you are faced with a problem during a round of Golf, you need to deal with the situation in terms of what the Rules will or will not allow you to do.
When you think about Stadler’s situation from the proper perspective, you are not surprised that he was penalized and you wonder why on earth he thought he could kneel on a towel. It’s probably understandable that the media continues to analyze the Stadler ruling in terms of dry-cleaning costs, but it’s not okay for golfers to do it that way.
